Ellen rules out Qld visit now, but would love Aussie pad

QUEENSLAND will miss out on Ellen fever with the talk show host running out of time for a Sunshine State holiday.

DeGeneres originally planned to holiday with family on Hayman Island and film a Great Barrier Reef segment for her show, but her delayed arrival in Australia because of illness has forced her to cut her Queensland leg all together.

"It's a shame because I'd been looking forward to this for a long time," she told the Today show's Richard Wilkins.

"I'd only been sick one day in 10 years before this."

DeGeneres will fly back to LA from Melbourne, where she is today filming the last Aussie segments for her show.

She told Wilkins that she has to come back again.

"I've always wanted to come to Australia for a lot of reasons," she said.

"I like everything about Australia.

"I can see myself buying a house here. It really is a beautiful place."

Rumour mill was running full swing in Noosa

FOR years, they asked: is she or isn't she?

Now in Noosa, where the Ellen DeGeneres rumour mill is in full swing, everyone's asking: will she or won't she? Visit, that is - in person, along with her wife, Aussie actress Portia De Rossi, and their families.